KAYTRANADA BECOMES THE FIRST BLACK ARTIST TO WIN BEST DANCE ALBUM GRAMMY – [READ]

Kaytranada made history on Sunday, making huge moves for the Black community in the dance music genre. 

Despite dance music‘s origins being within the Black community, the genre has been largely taken over by white males. However, yesterday, March 14th, Kaytranada became the first Black artist to win Best Dance/Electronic Album for his sophomore album ‘BUBBA’ at the 63rd annual GRAMMY Awards.

Kaytranada also won a GRAMMY this year for Best Dance Recording for his hit track with Kali Uchis, “10%”. The sunny, catchy tune has garnered an impressive 40.3 million streams to date on Spotify alone.

No diggity no doubt https://t.co/jiex7vh89Y

— kaytra-NADA (@KAYTRANADA) March 15, 2021

Kaytranada is a Haitian-Canadian DJ and producer, hailing from Port-Au-Prince, Haiti. His critically acclaimed debut studio album, ‘99.9%’, thrust his unique, refined talent into the spotlight, being named one of the Best Albums of 2016 by multiple publications, including Apple Music Canada’s #1 Best Album of 2016.

Kaytranada’s impressive win for Dance Album of the Year edged out world renowned acts like Disclosure, Madeon, and Baauer. In addition, Kaytranada’s Dance Record of the Year win put him on top above industry leaders Diplo, Flume, and Disclosure yet again.

In addition to Kaytranada’s historic win, Beyoncé also had a record-breaking night. Beyoncé won her 28th GRAMMY for Best R&B Performance for “Black Parade”, a celebration of Black excellence and power, with proceeds donated to Black-owned businesses. This win made her the most awarded woman in the history of the GRAMMYs.

Coming up on a year after the tragic murder of George Floyd, historic Black Lives Matter protests, activism, and increased pressure have began to set the tone for popular culture. Black artists, creatives, businesses, and representation in mainstream media have seen a long-overdue uptick, and will hopefully continue to create new norms and fight barriers of injustice and inequality. With artists  and people in every walk of life coming together to combat these prominent social issues, we can hope to continue to see increased representation and recognition for the Black community.